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#1
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When the yard police goof
I got a citation from the city yard police
(for lack of something more benign to call them) for "excessive vegetation." Whatever its actual merits, the blank for "Date of infraction" was filled in with a date of almost a year ago! But in the signature portion, the inspector did sign with a more plausible recent date. I couldn't believe my eyes. I have requested a hearing before the adjudication board. Would it be prudent to have a substantive defense or are these things dismissed if they're technically flawed? Also in the things-that-don't-add-up department, in the envelope in which the citation arrived, somebody had mistakenly included a multi-page document pertaining to a complicated housing violation by somebody else in a different part of the city! -- (Charles Packer) ungoogled: mailboxATSIGNcpacker.org http://cpacker.org/whatnews |
#2
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Mail,
Such technical flaws in a citation won't affect the merit of the citation. If you raise the issue of the date the date will be corrected. Mow your lawn. Dave M. |
#3
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David Martel wrote:
Mail, Such technical flaws in a citation won't affect the merit of the citation. If you raise the issue of the date the date will be corrected. Mow your lawn. Dave M. It could be something other than the lawn. Shrubs/trees blocking the sidewalk or interfering with traffic. -- Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington USDA Zone 8 Sunset Zone 5 |
#4
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"Travis" wrote in message
news:Wxize.36335$Fn4.23442@trnddc06... David Martel wrote: Mail, Such technical flaws in a citation won't affect the merit of the citation. If you raise the issue of the date the date will be corrected. Mow your lawn. Dave M. It could be something other than the lawn. Shrubs/trees blocking the sidewalk or interfering with traffic. That's true. I walk 4 nights a week. A few neighbors have stuff growing in such a way that it pokes pedestrians in the face. I like wild gardens, but that's just plain stupid. |
#5
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"Doug Kanter" wrote in message ... "Travis" wrote in message news:Wxize.36335$Fn4.23442@trnddc06... David Martel wrote: Mail, Such technical flaws in a citation won't affect the merit of the citation. If you raise the issue of the date the date will be corrected. Mow your lawn. Dave M. It could be something other than the lawn. Shrubs/trees blocking the sidewalk or interfering with traffic. That's true. I walk 4 nights a week. A few neighbors have stuff growing in such a way that it pokes pedestrians in the face. I like wild gardens, but that's just plain stupid. Around here, people seem to move every two or three years. People move in and get an urge to mark their territory by planting something. Often it is a small tree or shrub that they plop down in an inappropriate spot. They move in a couple of years and the cycle repeats. After about 15 years, you get stuff growing over the sidewalks and blocking your vision at the intersection. It's too much work for people to remove or prune overgrown pants, and most people seem to be allergic to the outdoors. They drive down the street, push the garage door transmitter, drive into the garage, close the door, and don't come outside again until it's time for the next work day. They seem oblivious to the fact that their landscape needs some attention. I suspect that most of the younger people who do this are conditioned by their parents catering to their every need that it isn't in their scope of thought to do anything themselves. |
#6
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"Vox Humana" wrote in message news "Doug Kanter" wrote in message ... "Travis" wrote in message news:Wxize.36335$Fn4.23442@trnddc06... David Martel wrote: Mail, Such technical flaws in a citation won't affect the merit of the citation. If you raise the issue of the date the date will be corrected. Mow your lawn. Dave M. It could be something other than the lawn. Shrubs/trees blocking the sidewalk or interfering with traffic. That's true. I walk 4 nights a week. A few neighbors have stuff growing in such a way that it pokes pedestrians in the face. I like wild gardens, but that's just plain stupid. Around here, people seem to move every two or three years. People move in and get an urge to mark their territory by planting something. Often it is a small tree or shrub that they plop down in an inappropriate spot. They move in a couple of years and the cycle repeats. After about 15 years, you get stuff growing over the sidewalks and blocking your vision at the intersection. It's too much work for people to remove or prune overgrown pants, and most people seem to be allergic to the outdoors. They drive down the street, push the garage door transmitter, drive into the garage, close the door, and don't come outside again until it's time for the next work day. They seem oblivious to the fact that their landscape needs some attention. I suspect that most of the younger people who do this are conditioned by their parents catering to their every need that it isn't in their scope of thought to do anything themselves. The way some people "think" about their yards is truly bizarre. My neighbor across the street has done a pretty nice job of landscaping. It's the type of setup you'd expect from a guy who doesn't really like plants THAT much, so it's designed for minimal maintenance. Not sterile, but plants that need little attention. Then, last week, he started applying that hideous, artificially colored red mulch. :-) We got to talking and he asked if I wanted some extra mulch. I commented that I didn't like the red stuff. His response: "I know it's not natural looking, but when people see it, it's obvious that someone's been landscaping". ????? scratching head If 5 sheets of paper are stapled together, it's obvious that someone's been stapling, but so what? :-) |
#7
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David Martel wrote: Such technical flaws in a citation won't affect the merit of the citation. If you raise the issue of the date the date will be corrected. Mow your lawn. Your flippancy is justified; I didn't flesh out the context of the situation. I've made it a point to keep the public space in front of the house trimmed and the alley by the side of the house free of overhanging branches. The house is one of a few 1920's bungalows amid 1940s and 1950s houses that are somewhat more substantial. My elderly neighbor who lives in a similar house across the street was hit with a similar citation at the same time. The area is on the brink of gentrification; it's not far from the Anacostia watershed of Washington, D.C. that is the object of a recent comprehensive development plan. And this city has seen a post-9/11 willingness of authorities of all kinds to use their muscle -- for example, when the 12-year-old girl was handcuffed for eating in a Metro station. I've lived at that address for 19 years and have always had cordial relations with the neighbors. None of them has ever complained about my preference for hands-off landscaping. The issue, ultimately, is esthetic, and the question is whether the city can decide when to dictate esthetics -- in the absence of complaint -- by using regulations that were certainly intended to penalize owners of neglected vacant lots. -- (Charles Packer) ungoogled: mailboxATSIGNcpacker.org http://cpacker.org/whatnews |
#8
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Sorry if my answer seemed flippant. You suggest that you have carefully
landscaped your property and that it is not overgrown or a public nuisance. Oddly you seem to indicate that only the front and an alley receive routine trimming. You suggest that the 1920s bungalows are being "picked on". Do you know if your citation was in response to a complaint? In the matter of esthetics a judge will consider photos that you bring and listen to what you have to say about them. He will also listen to the opinions of the "lawn police". It's hard to predict how the judge will decide on esthetics. Is your yard a haven for vermin? How does it compare to other yards in the area? I don't know what to make of your belief that you are being picked on for owning a small bungalow. If other, more substantial, homes in the area have similar landscaping with similar maintenance but have not been cited then I guess you can ask why. If your citation was due to a complaint then you should find out who complained. Good luck, Dave M. |
#9
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David Martel wrote:
guess you can ask why. If your citation was due to a complaint then you should find out who complained. Point well-taken. I hope the inspector returns the call I made to his voice-mail this morning. I would much rather deal directly with whomever made the complaint. I could accomodate them by building a fence...or maybe just negotiate the complaint away. -- (Charles Packer) ungoogled: mailboxATSIGNcpacker.org http://cpacker.org/whatnews |
#10
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This thread reminds me of a conversation I had with an (A)lley
(I)nspector last Winter. AI - Sir, you have to get rid of the refuse you have in the alley. Me - Excuse me? AI - You have a pile of dirt in the alley. Me - dirt is refuse? AI - Yes. Me - But it's dirt. AI - It is refuse. Me - How can dirt be refuse? AI - Weeds will start growing in it Me - It's composting (dug up lawn) over an old weed patch. AI - Compost goes in the back yard. ME - what-ever. AI - I'm only giving you a warning, please clean it up. Here it is, January in Chicago and I'm going to move a pile of dirt/compost/mulch etc. Luckily Ma nature cooperated and the temps rose into the 60's and some rain help defrost it. Moved it onto the other side of the fence, into a neighbors garden area (which I wanted to do in Spring) that was solid weeds the year before (hence weeds all over the alley also). A few days later we got about 10 - 12'' of snow. I was picturing the guy coming back and digging through snow looking for dirt LOL. |
#11
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wrote in message oups.com... The area is on the brink of gentrification; it's not far from the Anacostia watershed of Washington, D.C. that is the object of a recent comprehensive development plan. And this city has seen a post-9/11 willingness of authorities of all kinds to use their muscle -- for example, when the 12-year-old girl was handcuffed for eating in a Metro station. Haven't heard of the case. I, being a westerner at present, thought this was about wasting H2o. Now I am not sure if its zoning aesthetics or environmental concerns over the watershed. Sounds like government hell. Do inform us of the outcome. I live in Hawaii now where they're wont to enact laws, but enforcement never occurs. Sounds like you have the opposite going on in DC. |
#12
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#13
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wrote in message ups.com... I got a citation from the city yard police (for lack of something more benign to call them) for "excessive vegetation." Whatever its actual merits, the blank for "Date of infraction" was filled in with a date of almost a year ago! But in the signature portion, the inspector did sign with a more plausible recent date. I couldn't believe my eyes. I have requested a hearing before the adjudication board. Would it be prudent to have a substantive defense or are these things dismissed if they're technically flawed? Also in the things-that-don't-add-up department, in the envelope in which the citation arrived, somebody had mistakenly included a multi-page document pertaining to a complicated housing violation by somebody else in a different part of the city! -- (Charles Packer) ungoogled: mailboxATSIGNcpacker.org http://cpacker.org/whatnews Do what a local yokel did. He planted his yard full of something and declared his yard a protected something or other, and the city attorney threw his (pansey-like) hands in the air in defeat! ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
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